Strategic Ties

By Ding Xiaoxing

Over the past seven decades， diplomatic ties between China and Russia have gone through an extraordinary journey.

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union， China-Russia relations have made a smooth transition， becoming more stable and mature. China and Russia have carried out pragmatic cooperation in various fields based on equality and mutual benefit. This has achieved win-win results， benefiting people in the two countries.

Some in the international community are reluctant to see the two come closer and have tried to sow dissension， propagating that the ties would inevitably deteriorate and that the friendship is not in the actual interests of the two countries.

But the fact that the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has been operating at a high level for many years belies these thoughts. The current bilateral relations have a solid foundation for cooperation.

Shared interests

China is the most populous country and Russia the largest country， and they share complicated internal and external situations.

Both China and Russia advocate a multipolar world and share similar views on major issues. They have maintained close cooperation in the UN， the Group of 20， BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization， which is an important factor in maintaining global stability.

China faces the important task of national rejuvenation， which requires focus on the problems caused by unbalanced and inadequate development in the new era. Russia also hopes to revitalize its status as a great power， restore its economic strength and resolve domestic problems. Both countries need a stable surrounding environment.

On the road to national rejuvenation， the two countries can learn from each other and provide complementary advantages for common development.

Both Chinese and Russian leaders have attached great importance to developing bilateral relations over the past decades. During his visit to China in the early 1990s， Boris Yeltsin， then Russian President， pushed for a strategic partnership that would take the bilateral ties into the 21st century.

In 2001， then Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the landmark Treaty of Good Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation.

Putin has talked about the importance of cooperation with China on many occasions. In a published article， Russia and the Changing World， in early 2012， he pointed out that Chinas development is not a threat to Russia， but rather， it offers opportunities， and that Russia needs a prosperous and stable China， while China holds the same expectations from Russia.

After his election in 2013， Chinese President Xi Jinping chose Moscow as the first foreign capital to visit， where he had eight hours of candid and pragmatic exchanges with Putin， opening a new chapter in China-Russia relations. Since then， the two leaders have been meeting four or fi ve times a year， having met 27 times in the past six years.

The two neighbors have established a communication mechanism at all levels， ranging from regular meetings between prime ministers to cooperation on energy， investment as well as strategic security. The mechanisms have ensured smooth communication between China and Russia and enhanced mutual trust.

China-Russia relations used to be described as “hot politics and cold economics，”indicating the level of political dialogue had far outpaced economic relations. But since Russia stepped up its pivot to the east， the economic cooperation with China has entered a new stage.

After the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed， Putin came to China twice to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. The proposed integration of the Eurasian Economic Union （EAEU） and the Silk Road Economic Belt， the overland prong of the Belt and Road Initiative， has become a new driving force for the economic cooperation between China and EAEU members.

Trade milestones

In 2018， trade between China and Russia topped $100 billion， marking a milestone. In the fi rst quarter of 2019， it stood at $24.1 billion， up 4.4 percent year on year. China has been Russias largest trading partner for eight consecutive years， with its share in Russias foreign trade on the rise. In 2013， Russias trade volume with China accounted for 10.54 percent of its total foreign trade， which rose to over 15 percent in 2018.

Energy cooperation has become a pillar of China-Russia economic cooperation. At the beginning of 2018， a second line of the China-Russia oil pipeline began commercial operation. Russia exported nearly 70 million tons of crude oil to China last year， becoming Chinas largest oil exporter.

At the end of 2017， the fi rst production line of the Yamal liquefi ed natural gas （LNG） project was officially put into operation. China National Petroleum Corp. （CNPC）， a major stakeholder in the project， received the fi rst shipment of LNG from Yamal in July 2018.

By the end of 2019， the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline will be completed. The pipeline is expected to provide China with 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia annually. In April， China and Russia reached an agreement on CNPCs participation in Russias Arctic LNG 2 project， demonstrating the huge potential of cooperation between the two sides on energy.

In terms of connectivity， the first crossriver railway bridge connecting China with Russia will be completed in 2019. The bridge across the Heilongjiang River will connect the city of Tongjiang in northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province with Nizhneleninskoye in Russia， with a designed annual through- put capacity of 21 million tons. It will be an important international corridor connecting China with Russia and the rest of Europe.

In the field of aviation and aerospace， the China-Russia Commercial Aircraft International Co. Ltd. has been set up as a joint venture to develop wide-body aircraft. Joint research and development of heavy-lift helicopters has made progress.

Agricultural cooperation is a new highlight. Russias agricultural sector has continued to grow with Russia becoming the worlds largest wheat exporter. Its agro exports to China have also increased. With the trade friction between China and the U.S. affecting U.S. agricultural exports to China， in the future， China and Russia can conduct extensive cooperation in agricultural investment and deep processing of agricultural products.

Local cooperation between the two sides has also grown. In 2018， China and Russia decided that the next two years would be designated for local cooperation and exchange. China has taken part in 30 projects in the construction of a leap-forward development zone in Russias Far East， with a planned investment of over $4 billion. It has become the largest source of foreign investment in the region.